Method and means for pressing soles



Feb. l2, 1935. C, F, FREEMAN 1,991,348

METHOD AND MEANS FOR PRESSING SOLES Filed Jan. 25, 1929 :T: 27V' n 1 u z-- A.9\ f

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Patented 'Feb'. 12, 1935 4 UNITED STATES PATENT ,Q1-*FICE j.

METHOD AND MEANS Fon raEssmG soLE charles F. Freeman. University city, M0., signor to Charles Tweedie, trustee In the manufacture of boots land shoes in accordance with one of the well known processes the outsole is attached to the upper by means of cement having usually a nitro-,cellulose base.

The upper on the last is placed on. or in a shoe support having a co-operating inflatable sole engaging pad, and this pad is inated or otherwise acted upon by fluid, so as to press the sole against,

the upper, the cement being` applied tothe sole "and upper in order to attach them together.

After an interval sufficient to permit setting of the cement, the pad is -deated or otherwise manipulated to release its pressure on the sole in order to permit removal thereof.

In the manufacture of certain types of shoes, more particularly ladies or other high heel'shoes, the last bottoms and the bottoms of the shoe thereon vary considerably, particularly as the height of the heel to be placed on the shoe varies. The result is, therefore, that when the pad is pressed against the shoe bottom, the pressure back of the ball (the zone where the sole begins to curve upwardly towards the heel seat) may not be suiilcient to secure thel desired union through the medium of the cement, which requires the application of a rather heavy pressure. Furthermore, the pressure will not be uniform or as required for the various shoe bottoms; for the pressure will be the greatest at the ball and decrease away from the ball, especially as the height of the heel to be used on the shoe, and, therefore, of the last and the shoe bottomback of the ball, increases. It will, of course, be understood that in the manufacture of shoes in accordance with the process described, shoes of various shapes and designed for different height heels are successively subjected to a given pressure.

One of the objects of this invention, therefore, is to provide means of the character described having provisions whereby the vpad can be conformed to the bottom of the shoe being operated upon. V

Another object of this invention is to provide means whereby the pressure applied to the sole to press the same against the upper may be controlled particularly at selected portions along the sole.

In the bottoming of a shoe in accordance with the process described, the pressures employed are such as to affect the character of the heel seat. This is especially true in the case of ladies shoes employing wood heels,`where the sole extends back over the heel seat and where, on account Jefferson City, Mo., as

aspirin, semi No'. 335,093

(Cl. 12-33) K l of 'the thickness or other characteristic of the sole, the high pressure employed bends the leather at the edges around the heel seat so that the desired foundation for the heel and' the desired configuration of the leather at the heel seat are not secured.

Another object of this invention, therefore, is to provide means whereby the pressure at the heel seat or any other desired part of the shoe is relieved particularly'along. the edges.

Further objects will appear from the detail description, taken in'- connection with the accom-l panying drawing, in. which- Figure lis aside elevation of an apparatus embodying this invention; Y

Figure 2 is a plan of the'support showing the position of a shoe sole in dotted line; and

Figure 3 is a detail.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, 1 designates a support adapted to receive a pad 2, which in this particular embodiment is in the form of. a bag adapted to be inated under air pressure. Over this'pad isl arranged to be placed a .shoe 3 mounted on a last 4 and having a sole 5 which is to be attached to the shoe by cement. The last has a socket arranged to receive the usual pin 6 while the forepart of the shoe is engaged by the usual pad '1. The mounting of the last pin 6 and the pad 7 may be accomplished in any suitable manner; and, as shown in Figure 1, they are mounted upon a bar-8 having sockets 9 whereby these elements may be secured in adjusted position by pins 10. The bar may be secured in adjusted position by a link 11 pivoted at 12I to the support 1, and a pin 13 in the vbar 8 may selectively engage sockets 14; A latch 15 on the bar 8 may be provided with a hook 16 arranged to selectively engage pins 17. It will be understood that the structure so fardescribed may be of any suitable or usual form as now employed in the art.

The pad 2 is in this particular embodiment of the inflatable type and is provided for that purpose with a. nipple 18 arranged to be connected with an air chuck, and has the usual valve 19. The

support 1 is provided with a backing for the pad, Y

desired adjusted position by means of a spring plunger 30 engaging sockets in the hand wheel.

By means of the mechanism described, the backing part 21 may be adjusted to conform the same and its pad to the bottom of the last and the shoe thereon. 'I his backing part is shown in two positions in Figure 1, corresponding. respectively, to shoes having high and low heels. It will, therefore, be seen that-.the backing can be adjusted to conform to the shoe bottom, more particularly back of the ball upwardly; accordingly, a uniform or desirable pressure can be selectively applied to the sole with shoes designed for heels of varying heights and having, therefore, varying conformations of shoe bottoms. By means of the adjustment, it is also possible to selectively increase or decrease the pressure applied along diiferent portions of the shoe sole independent of the fluid prsure. By adjustment of the hand wheel 29, it is possible to apply more or. less pressure, as desired, to the sole at the shankorattheballorevenatthetoe. Itwill beseenthatif thebackingpart21 israised,the

pressureattheshankwillbeincreased. Itwil1,

which counter-presure increases as the inilation orstretchofthebagincreases. Accordingly, .with a small amount of stretch, the effective pressure on the sole is a maximum. 'Ihe pressure on the sole varies also because the positioning means locating .the shoe may not be so adjusted or adapted to allow for uniform or proper pressure.

In accordance with this invention and in the application of pressure to the sole to attach the same to the shoe, a mediallyrecessedbearing plate 33 is placed between the pad and the sole. This plate is of suilicient size and thickness so as to relieve the pressure at the margin of the heel seat while still permitting the pressure to be applied to the body of the sole at the heel seat inside of the margin, if desired, and directly to the sole forward of the heel seat.

It will be understood that this bearing plate is positioned with its edge at about or slightly forward of the position occupied by the breast of the heel. By this means the pressure is appliedv at the sole to the heel seat in such a manner as to prevent the objectionable turningover of the edges of the sole around the heel seat whereby the desired seat for the heel is retained. While the plate 33 may be a simplev one positionedas described, in accordance with one embodiment of this invention, the plate may be attached to the backing 21 by legs 34. In such a case the plate is recessed as shown at 35 so that the bag can act on the sole at the heel while pressure at the sole edges is relieved.

It win, therefore, be seen that this inventionV accomplishes its objects, since means are provided whereby the operation of applying soles to shoes may be accomplished expeditiously and in a simple and eiective manner. While the invention is particularly applicable to the operations of attaching an outsole to a shoe by means of cement, it will be understood that it has various applications particularly to the shoevart which will be understood by those skilled in the art. While in the particular embodiment illustrated, the ex'pansible Vpad is in the form of an air bag which maybe inilated by the admission of air under pressure and deflated by the exhaust or release of the air therefrom, it will be understood that any other fluid or liquid may be used for inflatin'g this pad. It will, furthermore, be understood that this invention in many of its aspects is applicable to means employing pads, particularly of a yielding character, other than those employing uid pressure. It will, furthermore, be understood that certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations; that is contemplated by and is within the scope of the appendedclaims, It will, furthermore, be understood that various changes may be made in details, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the speciiic'details shown and/or vdescribed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. An apparatus for attaching soles to shoes, comprising, a shoe support, a yielding pad thereon for engaging the shoe bottom under pressure, and an element inserted between the pad and the sh bottom adapted to relieve the pressure at the margin along a part of the shoe bottom while thepressureinsideofthemarginismaintained.

2. An apparatus for attaching soles to shoes,

a shoe suDpOrt. a yielding Dad thereon for engaging the shoe bottom under pressure, and an element inserted between the pad and the shoe bottom at the heel seat, adapted to relievethepreureatthemarginalongapart of the shoe bottom. l

3. An apparatus for attaching soles to shoes, comprising, a shoe support, a yielding pad thereon for engaging the shoe bottom under pressure, and a medially recessed bearing plate inserted between the pad and the shoe bottom at one end thereof.

4. An apparatus for attaching soles to shoes comprising, a support, a pad for cooperating with the shoe bottom and extending for the length of the sole to be attached, and an adjustable backing for the shank and heel portions of the sole, said backing hinged to said support rearwardly of that portion of the pad which contacts the ball portion of a sole.

5. An apparatus for attaching soles to shoes comprising, a pad for cooperating with the shoe bottom and extending for the length of the sole,

press the same against the shoe bottom, the pressure at the margin along the heel part of the sole inside the edge being relieved while the pressure is maintained inside the margin at heel end and entirely across the sole at the forepart.

'1. An apparatus for attaching soles to shoes comprising, a support, a pad for cooperating with the shoe bottom and extending for the length of the sole to be attached, an element inserted' of the sole to be attached, an element inserted between the pad and the shoe bottom adapted to between the pad and the shoe bottom adapted relieve the pressure at the margins along a part to relieve the pressure at the margins along a of the shoe bottom while the pressure inside of part of the shoe bottom while the pressure inside the margin is maintained, a backing for said of the margin is maintained, a backing for said pad composed of relatively adjustable sections, pad composed of a fore part section and a rear and means for adjusting said sections to vary part section, said sections being hingedly conthe angular relation thereof in accordance with nected together adjacent the ball region of a the heel height of the shoe being operated upon, shoe thereon, means for angularly adjusting said said adjusting means having a series of stops sections about the hinge connection, and a series corresponding to different heel heights. of stops for setting said adjusting means each 8. An apparatus for attaching soles to shoes corresponding to different heel heights.

comprising, a support, a pad for cooperating with the shoe bottom and extending for the length CHARLES F. FREEMAN. 

